Slices of Time
by the time and effort
Summary: This will be a few short one shots about random things that are all AU. It's just a bunch of scenes that I write for fun and hope the mean something.
1. Chapter 1

**This is just going to be a bunch of** **short oneshots that are all unconnected and all AU. Also it will all be random.**

Love

Deep breath in. Sit still and and stretch the moment for as long as possible. The game on the screen is late into the first quarter and the beer bottle on the table in front of me is still full and cold and sweating. My dinner plate still sits next to it despite its emptiness. This prevented me from resting my legs on the table, so I sat upright and rigid debating whether or not to take the plate back to the kitchen. With a grunt I decide to wait until I finish my beer.

Jeff comes strolling down the hall from the kitchen to lay down by my feet. He has a chew stick in his mouth. Those things leave such a mess on the floor. I reach down and grab it and give it a little tug but he pulls it back away from me and continues chewing with the end held between his paws. I pet his head and continue to watch the game figuring he deserved that stick for now, but he should really have to keep them outside.

I glance down the hall. Any noise coming from the room at the end of the hall is drowned out by the tv as the second quarter enters the fourth minute. There's no signs of life from what I can see from the doorway, but I know she's down there glaring at her laptop screen and shuffling papers preparing her lesson plan for tomorrow. She will have put her dinner plate in the sink along with the rest of the dishes she used to make dinner. It's almost halftime and I'll have to go wash them soon.

I reach down to grab my beer again not realizing that I had already finished it. I breath a heavy sigh. I hoisted myself out of the deep soft cushions of the couch with a grunt. I grabbed the empty bottle and plate and sauntered slowly to the kitchen. The sounds of the game faded but I heard at last the buzzer for halftime and I passed through the doorway into full view of the kitchen and dining space. She sat there just as I had imagined.

Her eyes never wavered from the screen but I moved quickly to the refrigerator. I pulled the door open and grabbed a fresh bottle before moving to the sink. I rinse my bottle and my plate straining to hear the clicks of the keyboard over the rushing water. I hold my breath every time there's a pause. I'm thankful that tonight's dinner was simple and left little mess. I scrub furiously for a short while until everything is clean, then I set them aside to dry. I then exit the room grabbing another two beers so I won't have to get up again.

I set my drinks down and give Jeff a pat on the head as I retake my seat with a minute to spare before the second half starts. I stretch and spread out, finally getting to put my feet up. I begin to relax as the third quarter got into full swing. It was close but we were looking good, and that was satisfying today. Jeff stood and put his head on my lap and I began to pet him while he drooled on my leg.

"Hey," said a voice from the door.

"Hey," I said barely glancing over to her. "You all finished?"

"Yep," she said walking over and cuddling up next to me. "How's the game going."

"It's a good game," I grumbled. I turned my head to look at her but she was resting her head on my shoulder so I kissed the top of her head and turned back to the game.

"My lessons are all planned out for the week, but I'm worried about Adrianna," she began. "She's been falling behind, and I don't think she has been getting the help she needs."

"Hmm" is all I say in response.

"I just don't know if I can spare the time to give her any individual attention. Conferences were no help either because her parents were kind of rude and blew me off when I brought it up. So I'm just worried for her, you know?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know, though," she continued. "Maybe I'll just check on her during work times and she'll get better, but do think that might be seen as showing favoritism?"

"They're just kids," I say keeping my eyes fixed on the screen. "I don't think they'll really notice."

"I don't know. They're pretty smart and they notice a lot. And I don't want anyone else to fall behind."

"I'm sure it'll will be fine" I said. I began to sit forward and tense up.

"I don't know…" she said. "Anyway how was your day?"

"Not great," I said pulling my arm out from under her to lean forward on my knees and open another beer.

"What happened?"

I pull the bottle away from my lips and say, "Can we talk after the game?"

She was quiet for a minute. I could imagine her face setting into the neutral expression of stone cold anger that always sets me on edge. "I guess."

My jaw clenches. We watch the game in silence, or at least I do. I don't look to check to see what she's doing. Jeff walks over to her with the stick back in his mouth. The clock winds down as we steadily fall behind in the final quarter, but I've lost interest. My mind fills with reasons to be mad at her, but I know it's pointless.

As the final buzzer sounds I say, "I got fired."

"Oh babe I'm so sorry," she says. I know she's not mad at me anymore, but I feel very little relief.


	2. Chapter 2

One Morning

Lying on his back looking to the ceiling from his bed lay Percy awake and unmoving. Bright yellow light streamed in from the window was blinding as it reflected off of the white walls. The round light fixture on the ceiling was the darkest point in the room aside from the spaces beneath the bed and the dresser. To Percy the walls seemed to slope inward to tower over him so that if he were to stand his shoulders would brush the two opposite walls. His sheets had been flung off in the night as the summer heat set his sweat to boil.

Heaving a sigh, Percy turned his head towards the dresser where his phone sat with the charger hanging down to the plug in the wall. He stretched his arm up and out towards the phone and pulled it down to his face. On it there were no new messages, so he looked back through the messages of yesterday. The last of his messages were goodnights to and from Annabeth. They had gone on a date yesterday and it had gone very well.

They met that day at the coffee shop near her house. Percy had to drive across town in his '98 Toyota Camry that needs to be washed, but she didn't mind. They sat and drank their coffee for a while just chatting before heading out to a park. At 2:13pm Percy had gotten a message from his mom which he ignored as they arrived. The park had a trail that lead to the rocky shore of the river. There we swam in the river and sat in the sun until we got burned. We grabbed ice cream from the truck that parks down there in the summer and wandered through the shaded trails eating and talking and laughing.

Percy's mom had texted and called him several more times, but he ignored her until the sun began to set and the shade turned into shadows. He knew he should have gotten back to her sooner. He didn't tell this to Annabeth though. Once he escaped the dark winding trails of the park and found the car Percy said he needed to go and that he would drive her home. Annabeth smiled and said that was fine. He dropped her off saying he had a great time and that he would call her, and she said the same before leaving the car.

Percy drove off around the corner to tell his mom he was on his way at 7:22pm. She was annoyed that he hadn't talked to her or come over sooner. The lecture wasn't as bad as he thought it would be though, so she must have been tired. Percy expects he'll hear more about it soon.

Laying in his bed, Percy could remember every detail of the drive. It was a left turn out of Annabeth's neighborhood into the blinding setting. The winding and gritty road leading to the freeway made the steering wheel shake and vibrate under his hands. There was surprisingly little traffic given the time of day and as Percy sped along wind roared around his car. Normally, the sound of the radio would drowned out the sounds of the road, but today music only served to irritate Percy so after searching through every channel he could find he jammed the button to power it down. Percy had sat in the slow lane for the whole drive even forcing a semi truck to pass him even though he got off after the third exit.

It seemed like no time at all before he pulled into the lot and parked. He sat in his car for a long moment reflecting on the day and going over the messages his mom has sent him. He sat ignoring the building looming over him and the people going in and out. Percy considered going to get dinner before going inside, but he knew that wouldn't be tolerated.

Percy blinked slowly as he pulled the cord from his phone and moved to get up. The weight of his chest could no longer anchor him to the bed from the buoyant force of his urge to pee. He threw on pants and shuffled to the bathroom with a towel and his phone. He thought about messaging Annabeth, but then he remember that she said she would be working today and wouldn't have another day off until Saturday.

Percy turned on the shower to let it heat up while he relieved himself. He threw his pants and towel on the ground directly to his right and took a step to the left into a lukewarm shower. He could feel the salt from his sweat wash down the drain as he scrubbed himself, and when he was done he stepped out of the shower and tossed the towel into his room and walked to the kitchen.

His laptop sat open on the table where he ate his meals. Percy grabbed a bowl of cereal and sat down in front of the computer,and opened Facebook. There were pictures from someone's recent wedding, and Percy's best friend shared a picture of their son taking his first steps. There was a group of people visiting Europe and many people posting picture of themselves out by rivers and lakes and on boats all smiling and happy in the sunshine.

Percy couldn't help but be reminded of one early morning when the sun rose above the surface of Cultus Lake. The water and wilderness seemed to hold it's breath in anticipation of the day to come. The glass of the water was broken by Percy and his parents pushing their boat out into the deep of the lake. Percy's dad strapped on his ski and slid into the water. The boat pulled him out of the water and cut spraying great rainbow arches of water into the sky, his face shining in the golden tint of a sun that's barely separated from the horizon.

The brisk morning air whipped through the boat until Percy's father released the rope that pulled him across the surface of the water and the boat turned to retrieve him. He reboarded the boat from the back step panting and grinning. He peeled off his life jacket and pulled out another pair of skis. He toweled himself off and stepped into the interior of the boat.

He looked to Percy and said "Your turn."

Percy remembered saying something like "not now," or "maybe later", but it was never really his choice.

His father hoisted the young Percy by his life jacket and tossed him into the lake and the ski's shortly after. The ice cold water drained all the fight and resistance out of him and Percy put on the skis and grabbed the handle of the rope. The boat hoisted him back out of the water and the cold left his bones. The water that splashed his legs became warm and the wind seemed to part around him. Percy cut back and forth behind the boat not getting any of the same spray his father created, but basking the moment all the same.

But then Percy's mind returned to yesterday. He thought of the blue glow of the white tile floor and walls in some sections of the hospital, and the gray and coarse carpets of the other sections. The icey steel of the agonizingly slow elevator and the crushing ceilings. The halls were an endless maze of cells that get smaller with every step.

Percy came to a room where the door stood fully open, but the only thing that showed through it was a TV in back corner, a window without a view of the setting sun, and a bathroom to the right that hid the rest of the room. As Percy entered the room the foot of a bed appeared followed by his mother sitting in a chair on the far side of the bed, then his father lying flat in the bed hooked up to various machines, and finally and chair on the near side of the bed.

Percy sat down. "So, when can you pull the boat out again?"

His mother gave him a stern look, but his father gave a broad and glassy eyed smile. "Any day now," he said.

Percy smiled and looked down to the freshly removed leg. Percy asked how it went and his father said it went well, but Percy knew that he was being worn thin and ragged.

"How was your date?" his father asked.

"It was good," Percy said.

"Good," he said. "Don't wait too long to introduce me this time alright?" He smiled like it was a joke.

Percy smiled back. "I won't."

Back in his kitchen, Percy closed his computer a little more forcefully than he should. His empty cereal bowl shook slightly as he let his arms drop loudly on to the table. He looked to his phone resting on the table for a long moment. He picked it up and looked again through the messages from yesterday.

"Lunch?" He texted Annabeth without deciding to do so.

"Sure," she replied with a smiley face.

Percy threw on a shirt grabbed his keys and left the apartment into the open air.


End file.
